Leeds United will face Birmingham City in a bid to cement their places in the playoff berths and Garry Monk is very concerned prior to the match. The Whites have gradually risen to the fourth spot and will be trying to end the season on a high. Birmingham City placed 14th in the Championship are having a poor run of games and have won only two matches out of their last 15 games. The Blues will be coming into the game with a 2-1 win over Wolves and manager Gianfranco Zola will be looking for a full three points when the sides will face on Saturday at St. Andrew’s Stadium.
Leeds United had earlier tasted consecutive defeats against Huddersfield Town and Cardiff City but are unbeaten in the last three matches. A win for Monk’s side will tighten Leeds United’s grip on the fourth place, virtually guaranteeing them a play off position for promotion to the Premier League next season.
But Monk, who is banned from the touchline for his part in the melee at the end of Leeds United’s loss to Huddersfield last month, is very worried ahead of the match. “The Championship doesn’t allow you to relax for a second, not for a moment.
Since they changed their manager it probably hasn’t gone as smoothly results-wise as they would’ve liked. That squad has been competing for play-off places over the last couple of seasons. They got a good result against Wolves, that will give them confidence.
“They have the quality within that squad to do much better than they have. They’ll be wanting to build on that game, so we’re expecting a tough game. That win will give them confidence, so we have to be ready.
“It would be a mistake not to show the respect that Birmingham need, just because they have had a difficult time.”
Garry Monk has earlier been linked with a move to the Rangers to replace Mark Warburton. An interesting fact is that Birmingham City haven’t managed to win in the last three matches in their stadium but that just means that they will try just that much harder to better the records.
Monk is currently serving a one-game touchline ban after he got involved in a scuffle with Huddersfield manager David Wagner and also had to pay a fine of £3,000. The 37-year-old will be in the stands as his team take on the Blues.
If Leeds United does get promoted to the English top tier next season, the club hierarchy would definitely extend Monk’s contract (educated guess is one way of putting it) which will put an end to all the speculations of whether the gaffer might leave at the end of the season or not.
